Institutional Context
The Curriculum Lab is a branch library of Anderson University's Thrift Library, housed within the College of Education. Curriculum Lab resources differ from other academic library resources and serve a specific purpose, thus requiring a separate collection development policy that is coordinated with the Anderson University Thrift Library Main Collection Development Policy.
The purpose of the Curriculum Lab at Anderson University is to equip its students, faculty, and staff with the tools, resources, and support they need to excel in PK-12 educational settings. Rooted in the Christian values of our institution, the Curriculum Lab strives to provide access to a diverse and comprehensive collection of children's and young adult literature, curriculum materials, and instructional resources. The Curriculum Lab serves as a model school library and establishes habits for future professional collaboration between teachers, school librarians, and educational partners.
The Curriculum Lab collection is organized and catalogued separately from the integrated library system (ILS) used for Thrift Library's main collection. Curriculum Lab resources will be organized according to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system and catalogued and circulated via the Follett Destiny Library Manager and Destiny Resource Manager ILS, systems that are commonly used in school libraries within and beyond South Carolina. Given the separate ILS, Curriculum Lab resources will not be sourced for interlibrary loans.
Collection Development Responsibilities
The development of the Curriculum Lab collection is the joint responsibility of the Education Librarian and the faculty and staff within the College of Education. Decisions in collection development are aided by using selection tools such as reviews from professional library literature and standard bibliographies.
With the aid and advice of faculty and library staff and within budgetary restrictions, the Director of Library Services is ultimately responsible for the selection of all library resources. The Director of Library Services makes such decisions within the framework of the University's purpose and mission.
Collection Development Priorities
Resources will be added to the Curriculum Lab according to the following priorities:
- Resources supporting the curriculum of the College of Education
- Resources required for accreditation and/or certification purposes
- Resources contributing to a balanced collection consisting of:
- Big books
- Bilingual/Foreign language materials
- Biographies
- Board books
- Easy fiction (Picture books)
- Easy readers
- Juvenile fiction (Chapter books)
- Graphic novels
- Non-fiction
- Young adult fiction
- Classroom sets
- Professional teaching resources
- Kits
Selection Criteria
The following criteria are considered when evaluating a new resource for purchase:
- Available library funding
- Collection development priorities
- Educational significance
- Accuracy
- Presentation and appearance
- Literacy style and/or artistic quality
- Readability
- Cost
- Licensing agreements
- Licensing options and restrictions
- Accessibility
- Maintenance needs
- Format
Resources to be excluded from the Curriculum Lab collection:
- Multiple copies of consumable items
- Digital resources that require the administration of individual user passwords
- Physical media (DVD, CD, etc.)
- Physical periodicals
- Out-of-print items
- Rare books
- Textbooks - Review of PK-12 adoptions of instructional materials is provided by the South Carolina Department of Education
- General education and professional texts including theory, philosophy, history, and methodology. These books are house in Thrift Library's main collection.
Collection Maintenance
Periodic evaluation of the collection ensures that resources remain current, authoritative, and appropriate for user needs.
The following criteria will be used when evaluating resources to be deselected ("weeded") from the Curriculum Lab collection:
- The resource no longer supports the curriculum of the College of Education
- The resource is no longer reliable or relevant due to outdated content
- The resource is duplicated by another resource that provides more comprehensive coverage of a subject
- Usage statistics do not support retention of the resource
- Usage no longer justifies cost
- A newer edition is available that supersedes the earlier edition
- The resource is in poor physical condition
- The format is obsolete
- There are multiple copies of a title with low circulation numbers
- Access to the resource is no longer available or maintained
- Budget reductions force cancellation of a product
- It is discovered that the resource violated copyright guidelines
Gifts Policy
The Curriculum Lab greatly appreciates monetary gifts of any amount. The Anderson University "Ways to Give" page provides several giving options: https://andersonuniversity.edu/giving/ways-to-give.
Donations of new or gently used children's and young adult books and curricular materials are gratefully appreciated and will be judged by the same selection criteria for all other library resources.
All donated resources become property of Anderson University. Resources not added to the collection may be given to teacher education candidates, donated to a local charity, or discarded.
Donors will receive written acknowledgement of gifts and may request that a donation label be affixed to gifted resources added to the collection.
Reconsideration Procedures
Resources for the Curriculum Lab are selected to support the curricula of the College of Education at an appropriate level, consistent with its mission and collection development policy. However, selections may include resources that are unsuitable for use in the PK-12 classroom, even though neither the University nor the library may agree with or endorse the philosophies or positions contained within those resources. The inclusion of these resources in the Curriculum Lab collection is intended to support the professional development of preservice and practicing educators and will be clearly labeled and flagged in the Destiny catalog to inform users that they may not be used within PK-12 classrooms.
Thrift Library opposes general censorship of library resources. The library does recognize the right of individuals to question the inclusion of resources in the collections if they have concerns about their validity or appropriateness, but objections based on moral, religious, political or other grounds will not automatically result in the exclusion of resources. Individuals that would like the library to reconsider the inclusion of one or more library resources in its collections should contact the Director of Library Services.